"You are not allowed to report across ranks, fox demi-human."

Ashina tossed aside the wooden stick in her hand and planted her hands on her hips like a strict instructor, her expression stern. "Reports must be in written form and signed by the squad captain. Military rules are extremely important."

Clutching the bump on her head, the little fox whimpered, her eyes brimming with tears. She felt terribly wronged, yet didn’t dare to argue.

After all, she wasn’t even a proper soldier. Reporting military matters really wasn’t her place.

"Cough, that’s on me. I was the one who asked first."

Phield pulled her into his arms and gently patted her head.

No wonder Gogris had been so afraid of Ashina when she first arrived. Even now, she didn’t dare to share a bath with her.

Probably some kind of bloodline suppression unique to demi-humans, Phield thought to himself.

Ashina’s expression softened. "However, Gogris did not report the numbers incorrectly. Our losses are heavy. The wounded have already been sent to the Grand Manor for treatment. With Lydia’s holy light magic, their recovery should not be a problem. I will continue monitoring the situation and report to you." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Good. That’s a big help."

Phield set down the blushing Gogris, then stood up and stretched his arms, his gaze burning as he looked toward the city submerged in gray mist.

"Starnight City... no, the entire Nightfall Domain is already within my grasp."

Calling over Ben, the captain of the First Army, Phield issued his orders. "Bring in the spiders to transport the soldiers down from the walls for rest. Then send three hundred slaves to begin clearing Starnight City, starting from the collapsed section at the main gate."

Thankfully, he had gone a bit crazy back then and bought a thousand slaves outright. Now it was clear his population was still far from sufficient.

"Also, open recruitment and fill the gaps in the ranks. Compensation for the fallen soldiers must be properly distributed."

"Yes, my lord."

Ben received the orders and immediately moved to carry them out.

There were no powerful corrupted corpses left in the city. This was clear from the minimap.

The scattered skull icons were all just ordinary corpses.

"Next, we sweep the city for loot. Leave the cleanup of the remaining corpses for later. I’m sure you’re all sick of killing by now. Take a day off."

"Yeah, I’ve lost count of how many monsters I’ve killed."

"Same here, I’ve almost shot all my feathers."

Phield rubbed his hands eagerly. The Divine Chosen all lit up with excitement. Their territory was poor, so looting was their main way to make up the difference.

"We’ll go in order. Church, commercial district, wealthy district, then the lord’s palace."

The residential and slum areas had already been burned to charcoal along with the corpses. That had been part of the plan.

The group crossed a corrupted river and arrived at the grand and solemn cathedral of Starnight City.

Overrun by corruption, the cathedral possessed a strange, almost Lovecraftian beauty. Especially the spire, where countless corpses were impaled in dense clusters, sending chills down the spine.

"Holy light, protect us."

Tisiana traced a gesture over her chest. Due to her ample figure, it looked more like she was emphasizing her curves.

Phield found his gaze drawn in and felt his throat go dry.

"Oh ho, so you’re not just a pervert, but a boob-loving pervert."

Freshly released, Rosalia poked him with her arm and shot him a look of disdain. "How fickle."

"Wrong. I like everything."

Phield stood proudly with his hands on his hips. "I’m healthy."

"My lord, I have a request." Tisiana fidgeted, nervously rubbing her skirt.

"I’m a bit full right now, maybe tonight." Phield awkwardly refused, completely misunderstanding.

"That’s not what I meant. I hope we can preserve this cathedral." Realizing the misunderstanding, Tisiana flushed deeply, wishing she could dig a hole and hide. "This cathedral is a perfect fusion of religion and art. Could we not demolish it?"

"It can be preserved, but the faith within Nightfall Domain will be arranged by me, not the church."

Phield’s tone turned serious. He would not allow any external force to reap what he had painstakingly built.

"I will follow all your instructions. I only wish to keep the building."

Tisiana toyed with her long hair.

"No problem."

"My lord is the best. Let me lead the way. I know exactly where the church hides its valuables."

With Tisiana guiding them, they reached the abbot’s prayer room on the top floor. Pushing aside a heavy bookshelf, they discovered a hidden chamber.

The room was no larger than a bathroom stall, yet inside were three ornate treasure chests.

"There’s no way these are mimics, right? Luring us into a trap just to ambush us and watch the defeat animation." Rosalia poked a chest with the Greatsword of Gluttony. "If you get caught, you’ll end up giving birth to baby chests."

"Why would you even think that? This is a sacred place. How could something like that exist?"

"If churches can have farms, why not a mimic greenhouse?" Rosalia grinned mischievously.

Tisiana nearly choked. She wanted to hit Rosalia but knew she couldn’t win, so she held back.

Shaking his head, Phield opened the smallest chest.

"Wow, golden legend."

The flash of gold nearly blinded him.

Inside, neatly stacked, were gold bars bearing the empire’s insignia. There were twenty in total.

Even after ten years in a corrupted land, the gold had not tarnished, proving its high purity.

"Damn, that’s twenty thousand gold coins right there. The church really delivers."

Phield practically wanted to dig up the abbot and hug him.

His funds had been running dry, and this was a perfect refill.

Ashina smiled faintly and weighed a gold bar in her hand. "My lord, our military equipment has been almost completely depleted. If we don’t replenish soon, we’ll be reduced to wooden spears."

"Mm. The blacksmith workshop won’t be ready anytime soon. Next time we go out, I’ll allocate funds to purchase equipment." Phield stroked his chin. "Actually, I should think about who offended me before. Maybe I’ll just raid an armory."

With that decided, Phield opened the second chest.

"So beautiful." Ashina’s eyes sparkled.

The chest was filled with gleaming magic gems. Phield picked one up and slowly infused it with magic, then sighed and tapped the chest regretfully. "First-tier magic gems. Unfortunately, they’ve been stored too long. Their effectiveness has degraded."

Magic gems were used to enchant weapons. For example, crafting a first-tier flame sword required a first-tier fire gem.

"They can still be used for testing magical weapons or sold to the Mage Association."

Even with flaws, they were still worth a considerable amount of gold.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation, Phield said excitedly, "The last chest has to contain something good."

With a creak, he opened it.

Inside, there was only a single document.

"Huh? What is this?"

The group was disappointed, but Phield picked up the document and glanced at it, nearly shouting in shock.